"Brenda has a dragon in her blood"

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kevinkelleher
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"Brenda has a dragon in her blood" Posted on: April 17 2011, 10:01 am

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Biblionef South Africa is a dynamic organisation which provides new books to needy children's schools and libraries throughout South Africa with emphasis on organisations in townships, informal settlements and in remote rural areas. It is unique in two ways - firstly, Biblionef is the only book-donating organisation which supplies children with books in all South African eleven official languages. Secondly, Biblionef recognizes that there are not enough mother-tongue publications, so it works actively with local publishers and writers to commission new children's books in minority languages.

"Brenda has a dragon in her blood" (Brenda book)Biblionef educates children in a playful way about HIV/Aids by distributing a children’s storybook about a young girl. The book is called Brenda Has a Dragon in Her Blood. The book is based on the true story of Brenda, now thirteen years old, who has lived with her foster family in the Netherlands since her biological mother in Rwanda got very ill and died of Aids. Brenda’s foster mother, Hijltje Vink, wrote the book to help children to accept those with HIV/Aids and to prevent prejudice. Vink started writing after she became aware that nobody wanted to play with Brenda in school. The children were scared of getting HIV. According to Brenda: “The book explains what Aids is and that you don’t need to be scared to get Aids when you drink from the same cup or lick the same lollipop. It explains you can hug us and love us and play with us. Especially that. Everybody should know that. Even the South African president should know about that, so give him a copy of the book, too.”Brenda has a dragon in her blood has been translated into all official South African languages, three Braille languages and many other languages spoken outside South Africa. The book has proven to be an enormous success in many countries around the world.

HIV/Aids is currently such a taboo subject in South Africa that the tendency is to deny the problem. We must try to break the taboo and remove the stigma of people living with this contagious disease. We will only succeed if we start to openly talk about it, even with young children, and preferably before they reach sexual maturity. Brenda has a dragon in her blood is not only a beautifully illustrated book with a positive message, but it also avoids referring to sex. This means that the book is appropriate for all age groups and is suitable for religious organisations to use as well.

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